Despite several failed attempts at locking in an interview with the members of As I Lay Dying in the past, Loudside.com finally managed to finagle an interview with one half of the band's guitar duo and all around great guy, Nick Hipa. Here's what Nick had to say about their current headlining tour and the bands that are a part of it, his feelings on being nominated for a Grammy, being a part of the Warped Tour for the second year in a row, what we can look forward to from As I Lay Dying, and possibly a few other things you may or may not have known........

Loudside.com: Over the past several years, you guys have done numerous headlining tours, with this being the second U.S. Headline run for the new album. How are things going on this tour so far in your opinion, in terms of attendance and overall crowd response? 

Nick: Every single show on this tour so far, in terms of attendance and crowd response, has been amazing. We sincerely feel lucky to be doing what we're doing and the fact that so many people are coming out to our shows and getting into it, whether that be by going "bonkers" or just singing along, is overwhelming.
 
Loudside.com: Cool. Now in regards to the tour's line up, was this something that was put together by management/booking agents, or did you guys personally pick the bands for this line up? 

Nick: To be honest it was a little of "A" and "B." Our management/booking agent felt that a certain line up would make the most sense, and of the bands mentioned, the bands on the bill were the ones we opted for. Not just because they're rad bands but because they're all rad dudes as well... every single one of them!
 
Loudside.com: Right on. Always good to have great people touring with you. Now in regards to videos, so far you guys have done two videos for tracks from the new album, which turned into a two part concept video. Is there potential for a third part, or was it specifically done just for those two songs? 

Nick: The original concept was actually intended for just the "Nothing Left" video, but due to time and money constraints, we couldn't fully realize our vision for the story. As a result, we improvised! Thus stretching out the original idea for "The Sound of Truth" video. The next video will be for "Within Destruction", but will have nothing to do with the other two in any sort of way... it's just a straight up live video!
 
Loudside.com: Gotcha. Now on a similar note, another constant for bands of this modern era seems to be the obligatory "Official DVD" release. Are there any plans for an As I Lay Dying DVD in the near future, or is that something that hasn't even really been discussed yet? 

Nick: The idea for a DVD has been circulating for what seems like ages! We have heaps of footage spanning the past four years of our career but are missing one crucial component... a professionally recorded live performance! That is definitely in the works right now though.
 
Loudside.com: Cool. Definitely something to look forward to. So, as far as achievements go, you guys were nominated for a Grammy earlier this year, alongside the likes of Machine Head, and Shadows Fall, amongst others. For most bands, it's usually a milestone achievement, but for you personally, what are your thoughts on being recognized/nominated for an award that has never really been a "big deal" within the heavy metal genre? 

Nick: Personally I thought it was cool to be nominated, but it didn't start making me delusional about the alleged "awesomeness" of our band or anything. In my opinion there were an insane amount of awesome metal records that came out in '07 that I felt deserved recognition instead. 
 
Loudside.com: Interesting. But that's very cool of you to say that. Makes me wonder how the other bands that were nominated view themselves in that respect. Anyhow......For the production of 'An Ocean Between Us', you guys chose to work with Killswitch Engage's Adam D. as a co-producer, despite the fact that Tim and Phil produced the last record. Was there any specific reason for bringing someone else into the mix? 

Nick: Well producing a record doesn't always bear the same sort of responsibility it used to. If you've got someone taking care of engineering and someone else taking care of mixing, then essentially the only job a producer would have to do is arrange songs and get the best possible performances out of each individual musician. With "Shadows", we learned that trying to do everything ourselves can be frustrating in the sense that arguments between band members over arrangements or parts can create unnecessary tension. Our goal with the new album was to bring someone in whom we respected, to help us with all the areas we lacked during the last recording process.  As a musician and producer, we hold a tremendous amount of respect for Adam. As a dude, he is one of the best ever!  Hence it just made sense to bring him into the mix.
 
Loudside.com: Cool. I can see where doing it yourselves can bring about a certain amount of tension, especially in regards to arrangements and whatnot. On that note though, I wanted to ask about outside projects. I know that Tim has his label, as well occasionally producing albums for other bands. Does anyone else in the band have outside projects of any kind, and how does it affect As I Lay Dying, if at all? 

Nick: Nothing we do outside of the band takes away from our level of commitment towards As I Lay Dying. Tim has a record coming out for his Arnold Shwarzenneger fronted thrash metal band "Austrian Death Machine." Phil has another band called "Sabertooth." I sit in my room and play scales with a metronome for hours. We all do stuff, but AILD is job one.
 
Loudside.com: Right on. I'm sure it can get pretty boring during down time if you don't do anything. And I wasn't aware of Tim and Phil having other project bands, but I'll keep an ear out for them for sure. Now this coming summer, you guys will once again be joining up with the Warped Tour for a portion of the tour. Having already been a part of Warped last year, how do you feel about doing it again? 

Nick: We're excited to be a part of Warped again because we are doing the half we did not participate in last year, hence playing entirely new cities on the festival which should be a fun experience again!
 
Loudside.com: Ok. That's an interesting way to look at it. But hey, whatever works (laughing). Regarding these summer tours, what's your take on the diversity of the Warped Tour's extensive line up, versus a more streamlined "metal" oriented tour like Sounds Of The Underground, or Ozzfest? Do you prefer one over the other, or is it ultimately all the same? 

Nick: I enjoy playing Warped Tour very much. Being a heavy band on such a diverse line-up affords us the opportunity to stand out a bit more amongst the punk and more pop oriented bands. I really don't have much of a preference. As long as there are people to play for, I'm happy.
 
Loudside.com: Cool. Speaking of U.S. Summer tours, were there any other offers for a full summer festival run? And if so, what made you choose to do Warped over any other offers? 

Nick: Warped this year was pretty much planned on before we did Warped last year. Instead of doing the entire tour in one summer, we figure split it into halves and do them in separate years. It made it a whole lot easier to squeeze in the crucial European fests.

Loudside.com: Yeah, I guess that would make things alot easier, doing part of a U.S Festival as well as overseas Fests, as opposed to having to pick one over the other. It definitely gives you more opportunities to play to different crowds, and alongside different bands. On that note, you guys have been around for quite a while now, and you've had the opportunity to play with many, many well known and legendary acts (even if it was just a one day event playing the same European Festival, as opposed to having actually "toured" with a certain band). But in that regard, if you had the chance, what band that is still currently active, would you want to tour with the most at this point and why? 

Nick: Well the only rad band we haven't ever played with is Metallica. Seeing as they were a staple of my childhood, I would very much like to at least play one show with them........